(3BL Media) June 18, 2012 - Steve Lippman, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Microsoft caught up with 3BL Media at the Global Reporting Initiative Conference, Focal Point USA, on May 22 and 23, 2012.

About the GRI USA Conference in St LouisOver 200 people joined GRI’s Focal Point USA for their first year birthday celebration at the Conference "Making Sustainability Count: Tracking Progress, Driving Opportunity".

This Conference was co-organized by St. Louis University (Emerson Ethics Center & Center for Sustainability) and the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association.

With Master Classes and experience sharing on 22 May, this event helped has equip delegates with the practical knowledge needed to advance sustainability reporting in their organization, the mid-West, and the USA.

Herman Mulder, Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative, talked about the future of reporting, kick-starting the Conference on 23 May.

About the Global Reporting InitiativeThe Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) produces a comprehensive Sustainability Reporting Framework that is widely used around the world, to enable greater organizational transparency. The Framework, including the Reporting Guidelines, sets out the Principles and Indicators organizations can use to report their economic, environmental, and social performance. GRI is committed to continuously improving and increasing the use of the Guidelines, which are freely available to the public.

GRI, a multi-stakeholder foundation, was set up in the US in 1997 by CERES and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). In 2002, GRI moved its central office to Amsterdam, where the Secretariat is currently located. GRI has regional ‘Focal Points’ in Australia, Brazil, China, India and the USA, and a worldwide network of 30,000 people.